


Tis the Season

by SenatusConsultum (TheSenator)



Category: Assassin's Creed
Genre: Christmas Story, Frye Twins, Gen, Henry/Evie - Freeform, Henvie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-10
Updated: 2015-12-10
Packaged: 2018-05-06 00:59:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5396891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSenator/pseuds/SenatusConsultum
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jacob and Evie get into the holiday spirit.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tis the Season

Jacob let out a relieved sigh as he spotted the train. He started making his way home, clamoring wearily over chimneys and rooftops toward the tracks. He finally reached a clearing in the endless sea of buildings and looked out at the tracks below, in the man-made canyon that had been cleared of homes, shops, and people so the trains could travel efficiently from one borough to the next.

 _Ah, progress_ , he thought bitterly as he readied his rope launcher and prepared to grapple out over the train.

It had been a rough few days. A small group of displaced Blighters from The Strand and Whitechapel had holed up with what was left of the gang in Southwark, and together there were enough of them to cause trouble for the Rooks. Their new leader wasn’t smart enough to build up a stronghold like the old leaders had, but it doesn’t take a genius to terrorize locals trying to enjoy an afternoon stroll. The neglected, exploited people of Southwark were easy prey, and the new Blighter cell was trying to cow them into submission as quickly as possible.

Jacob, Evie, and the Rooks had spent the last few weeks trying to stop the flow of contraband from other boroughs that was funding the cell and taking out the brutes who were prowling the streets. It was a grind, seeking out the Blighters’ new hideouts, but they were slowly making progress.

But over the last couple of days, Evie had other business to attend to, so Jacob was on his own. He had his Rooks, of course, but none were as skilled as Evie. Together, they were unstoppable, each complementing the other with graceful, deadly efficiency.

 _It would have been nice to have Evie’s help with that factory today_ , he thought with a sigh as he stood and aimed the rope launcher. She had been uncharacteristically evasive when he asked what she was doing, so he rounded up a group of Rooks and headed to the factory without her.

He’d had to rescue eighteen children from the factory, which was little more than a burned-out warehouse. The cell had repurposed an abandoned building and rounded up all the children they could to do their backbreaking labor. Jacob had had to move slowly—the building’s only ventilation was a small skylight on the fourth story, causing the large, open room space to fill up with dark smoke. A group of Rooks had provided back-up, creating a perimeter around the building and fighting off any other Blighters who wandered by. None of them could see in the smoke, so Jacob was left alone to clear the factory. He’d taken out the Blighters overseeing the children one-by-one and then led the children out in groups of three. In the end, Jacob had to carry a few children who were too exhausted to walk out on their own—it was heartbreaking.

And all too common.

The train’s whistle snapped Jacob out of his thoughts. He exhaled, suddenly realizing that he’d been holding his breath. He looked left, saw their train, and shot the rope launcher. It found purchase in the gantry over the tracks with a soft  _ping_. Jacob leapt off the building and glided across the taut rope, reaching the structure as the locomotive passed under it. He paused, letting several boxcars pass under him before jumping onto the caboose.

As soon as Jacob slid off the roof and into the caboose, he learned what Evie had been up to.

She’d been decorating the train.

For Christmas.

Evie had always gotten excited about Christmas, insisting that they spend the day together, but Jacob had never seen anything like this.

Jacob’s eyes widened as he gazed at the shoots of ivy that adorned the caboose. In the dining car, green plaid fabric festooned with sprigs of holly hung from the bar and from the Rooks’ booth. In their sleeping car, Evie had hung stockings from the bedpost—one for each of them. She’d also put out a few toys from their childhood on their dresser. Jacob chuckled as he looked at a small doll, wearing pants and a hood that Evie had crudely sewn out of the doll’s original dress.

He finally found Evie in the lounge car, fussing over a tall, slender tree that she’d put in front of the Templar assassination board. The tree was covered in chains of colored paper and some of Henry’s pressed flowers. Jacob spotted a few sweets hanging from the branches as well.

“What on Earth is this?” Jacob asked, plucking a striped peppermint candy from the tree and popping it into his mouth.

“It’s a Christmas tree,” Evie responded matter-of-factly. “The Queen has one—it’s a German tradition. She was telling me all about it, and I thought we could use a little holiday cheer. I’ve got some more sweets to add, if you want to help. Don’t eat them all, though; they’re for Clara and the rest of the children.”

“Is there anything else you’ve planned that I should be aware of?” he asked as he reached for a candy and hung it on a branch near the top of the tree. “Are we expecting a gaggle of urchins for Christmas dinner?”

“No… not exactly,” she began. “I thought we could go to them—you know,  _in our train?_  It wouldn’t be too difficult to hand out sweets to thank them for helping us.” Jacob could detect an edge in his sister’s voice and knew she was preparing for an argument.

“I think that’s a fine idea,” Jacob said. He thought back to the factory he’d liberated earlier that day.

Evie raised an eyebrow. “You think so?”

He shrugged. “They’ve done a lot for us. Put themselves at risk. And it  _is_ Christmas _._  Hey, what’s this?” A small stack of paper caught his eye as he reached for another piece of candy. He picked it up; it had a hand-drawn sketch of him and Evie on it.

“That’s a Christmas card,” Evie answered. “Another thing that’s become popular recently. If you open it, you can see who it’s from.”

Jacob did so. “This one’s from Mr. Dickens.” He looked at the front again and laughed. “Oh, it has a ghost on it, looming over our heads. Clever.”

He flipped to the middle of the pile, finding a card with drawings of flowers on it. He opened it, and his eyes widened. “Well,  _this_  is certainly interesting…”

“Oh! That one wasn’t meant for you…” Evie was blushing as she snatched it out of his hand.

“Greenie’s quite the poet,” he teased. “Who knew?”

Evie cleared her throat. “Anyway, Jacob, what do you think? Any other ideas for Christmas?”

He thought for a moment.

“Well, I have seen people going door to door singing songs. What about that?”

“You want to go caroling?” Evie asked incredulously.

“Sure! We could teach some of those songs to the Rooks, and they could do it, too! And if they see any Blighters on the way, they could take care of them then and there.” Jacob’s mind was flooded with ideas. “They could teach the children songs, too. And then  _they_  could gather intelligence for us while they’re out singing! Or create distractions for us. Oh, this is a fantastic idea.”

Evie rolled her eyes. “Sure, Jacob. A carol-singing spy network. ‘Fantastic’ is right.”

Jacob huffed.  _She’s just jealous she didn’t think of it first,_  he thought.

“Let’s take it one step at a time, yeah?” She continued.

“Fine,” Jacob said as he considered which songs he should teach the Rooks first.

“Follow me, there’s more to see in the other cars.” Evie started to walk to the next car, and Jacob grabbed her arm.

“Everything looks lovely, Evie. You did a wonderful job.” He smiled. “Merry Christmas, dear sister.”

Evie’s eyes lit up. “And to you, Jacob.”


End file.
